BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, (GIS) – The Prime Minister’s Office salutes Barbados’ significant role in a landmark international achievement, following the adoption of the International Labour Organization’s Convention concerning decent work in the platform economy at the 114th International Labour Conference in Geneva.
The Convention, adopted on June 12, 2026, is already being reported around the world as a first-of-its-kind global standard for platform and gig workers. The decision is being described as the adoption of the first binding global employment standards for gig workers, while international coverage has highlighted its importance for workers in ride-hailing, food delivery, online services, care, domestic work, and other forms of digital platform work.
The Convention now sets a global benchmark on issues including fair pay, social protection, safety and health, employment classification, and the use of automated and algorithmic systems in managing workers.
Barbados occupied a place of exceptional leadership in this historic process. Minister of labour, social security and the third sector, Colin Jordan chaired the ILO Standard Setting Committee on Decent Work in the Platform Economy.
“Our Committee has made history. For the first time, the ILO’s tripartite constituents had negotiated a Convention specifically addressing the impact of digitalisation in the world of work. The eyes and ears of millions of workers were upon us. We could not disappoint them, and we did not,” minister Jordan said.
The moment places Barbados at the centre of one of the defining labour questions of the modern age: how to ensure that technological progress and social justice advance together. Under minister Jordan’s chairmanship, governments, employers and workers from across the world engaged in intense negotiations on the future of work, producing an international instrument that will guide how countries approach rights, protections and responsibilities in the digital economy.
The Barbados delegation reflected the strength of the island’s long-standing commitment to social partnership. It included minister Jordan; general secretary of the Barbados Workers’ Union and vice-president of the International Labour Conference. Toni Moore; permanent secretary in the ministry of labour, social security and the third sector, Faye Prescod; deputy chief labour officer, Alison Elcock; Randy Clarke of the ministry of labour; communications and information manager of the Barbados Workers’ Union and delegate who served on the Drafting Committee, Cheyne Jones; and executive director of the Barbados Employers’ Confederation, Sheena Mayers-Granville.
Together, the government, workers’ and employers’ representatives demonstrated that Barbados continues to bring substance, leadership and credibility to the international labour arena.
In a further demonstration of Barbados’ standing in global labour diplomacy, Barbados’ ambassador and permanent representative to the United Nations, WTO and other International Organisations in Geneva, Matthew Wilson, will serve as chairperson of the ILO Governing Body for 2026–2027.
The Governing Body is the ILO’s executive body, responsible for key decisions on policy, the agenda of the International Labour Conference, programme and budget proposals, and the election of the director-general.
Ambassador Wilson’s chairmanship marks the first time in the ILO’s 107-year history that Barbados, or any country of the wider Caribbean, has chaired the Governing Body, underscoring the country’s growing influence in international labour affairs and multilateral leadership.
This achievement is a signal that small states can help shape global rules on the biggest issues facing the world. As countries now move to consider ratification and implementation, Barbados can take pride in having contributed directly to the foundation of a new era of decent work for workers in the platform economy.
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